Latest Technology/Solutions News & Views…

Up until recently, virtual reality experiences behind the goggles were solitary. Then, group VR experiences emerged, like rides. But in the wake of the announcement of Oculus Venues in October, VR “venues” are expected to transform the group VR experience by allowing users to interact with each other within a virtual setting. Oculus Venues, according to the announcement at Oculus Connect, the fourth developer conference by the Facebook-owned brand, is a “new experience coming next year that lets people watch live concerts, sports and movie premieres with thousands of other people around the world.”Read more at Cramer.com

​In the experiential world, facial recognition technology is popping up in activations as an engaging interactive that gives consumers the personalized experiences they crave. It’s evolving from simply an advertising tool marketers have used to capture data and eyeballs, so to speak.

How it works? Typically, the technology functions through software algorithms that identify facial “landmarks” like eyes and noses through a viewer to develop a profile and draw conclusions about mood through the expressions detected.

Engagement is the key to crafting a memorable experience. Getting people engaged with each other, engaged with the physical space surrounding them, and engaged with event content, those are the ultimate goals of event marketers.

And the bottom line is that wearables = engagement.

​Here’s why.

Not long ago, the only way to gather insights about event traffic flow, attendee sentiment, or content engagement metrics, was from post event surveys.

When we thought about the decisions being made for events before wearables, the supporting data was wildly inaccurate and heavily skewed.